Hooves and Harlots
Synopsis Xena and Gabrielle pass through Amazon country and run into a group of Amazons. On their way to see the Amazon Queen one of them, Terreis, develops friendly feelings for Gabrielle and vice versa as they talk about their respective cultures, and they seem to share the same sense of humour. However, they are soon attacked by arrows. After an unsuccessful attempt to save Terreis, who is in fact an Amazon Princess, Gabrielle is given the Right of Caste, which makes her an Amazon Princess. This would be fine and dandy except for Krykus, a warlord, who has pitted the Amazons and Centaurs against each other so he can arm both sides and make them destroy each other. The Amazons accuse the Centaur leader's son Phantes of the murder and Gabrielle is duty bound to execute him. Apart from that, she's not having a bad time, since the Amazons teach her how to use a fighting stick (and also how to do the tribal dance). In the meantime, Xena gathers the evidence showing the warlord's treachery and is joined by Ephany, one of the Amazons that witnessed the killing. Having found a Centaur arrow at Krykus's camp and getting back to the Amazon village, Xena manages to stop the execution last minute and learns about Gabrielle's new position. But Melosa, the Queen of the Amazons' heart is too filled with hate, and she demands the execution. Through meaningful eye contact (and with Ephany's help), Xena gets Gabrielle to challenge the Queen and to use Xena as her champion. Xena beats the pants off of the Queen. For some reason, they make Xena the Queen, not Gabrielle (I guess they understand Xena could beat the pants off of Gabrielle, too). The Centaurs arrive ready to fight, but Xena as the new Queen refuses a fight and returns Phantes to them. Then she talks everyone into hating the warlord and a man called Celano, who has been living with the Centaurs as their ally but turns out to be the murderer of Terreis, in Krykus' name. They all weapon up, beat up Krykus' men, Xena kills Celano as he attempts to stab her from behind and Melosa defeats Krykus, announcing that he will be put to trial for his crime. Gabrielle proves to be pretty handy with her new fighting stick already. Amazons and Centaurs both finally put their feud to rest. Before leaving the Amazon village, Ephiny gives Gabrielle her mother's staff, which Gabrielle will carry with her on her journeys with Xena. During sunset, Gabrielle gets carried away with her new status as Amazon Princess, as the two heroines continue on their adventures. Memorable quotes * Terreis: It's a man's world, Gabrielle. Not because it should be, but because we let them have it. *Xena: Something about me you find interesting? *Ephiny: Yes. *Xena: Wanna tell me? *Ephiny: No. *Xena: Then stop staring at me, before I take your eyes out. * Xena: (looking at execution sword) What's this? * Gabrielle: I'm an Amazon Princess? * Xena: (rolling eyes) Great. *Melosa: Gabrielle, do you want to fight me to the death? *Gabrielle: Not really. * Gabrielle: (in response to Xena's silent hint) We gotta come up with hand signals or something. Cast * Lucy Lawless as Xena * Renée O'Connor as Gabrielle * Danielle Cormack as Ephiny * David Aston as Tyldus * Alison Bruce as Melosa * Mark Ferguson as Krykus * Rebekah Mercer as Terreis * Colin Moy as Phantes * Chris Bailey as Celano * Antony Starr as Mesas * John Watson as Arben * Aurora Philips as Magdelus * Tanya Dignan as Eponin * Andrew Kovacevich as Tor Background information and notes * Hooves and Harlots owed much to Hercules and the Amazon Women which just so happened to feature Lucy Lawless playing a supporting role as an Amazon chief of security. Hercules and the Amazon Women laid the foundation for Amazon culture and accouterments which were later used to Hooves and Harlots advantage. * This is the first appearance of Danielle Cormack as Ephiny. She was also in 3 episode of Hercules (though only two as Ephiny). * Danielle Cormack (Ephiny) has said that performing in an Amazon mask was something of a nightmare, especially during fight scenes, since she could barely see through it. * The Amazon Nation was structurally based upon the Iroquois Confederation, with different tribes being ruled by separate Queens but still linked by kinship. * This is the only episode where we see Gabrielle with the eagle headed staff given to her by Ephiny. They did, however, intend to bring it back at the beginning of the fifth season when Gabrielle went back to being a fighter. Instead they gave her a new weapon, her sais. * Xena does not use her chakram in this episode. Continuity and mistakes * Gabrielle (as an Amazon Princess) challenges Queen Melosa and chooses Xena as her champion. When Xena wins the battle, Gabrielle should have become queen. Instead, when Tyldus later challenges the Amazon queen, Xena steps out. And in the end, Melosa has miraculously become queen again. * On Channel 5 in the United Kingdom, this episode originally was scheduled to air on Saturday 6th September 1997. However, in the week beforehand, Diana Princess of Wales had been killed, with her funeral falling on that day. Presumably due to the parallels of an Amazon Princess being killed in the episode, the episode was changed to 'The Black Wolf' at the last minute. ('Hooves & Harlots' was eventually broadcast the following week). Disclaimer * No males, Centaurs or Amazons were harmed during the production of this motion picture. Category:Episodes Category:Season 1